10.08.2009

Fork That! {Vintage Thingies Thursday}

So....on that wonderful fall Saturday afternoon long long ago (like last week) when I got that fabulous birdcage that I shared with you fine folks I Mom and I also visited one of the local mills.

Hmm...that probably sounds funny to those who don't live in New England. Let me give you a little background...The Blackstone Valley (where we live) was once a virulent mill town. Lots and lots of fabulous textiles were created in this area along with a few other products. Hence the interesting 3-legged fish you find in the Blackstone River due to the beautiful dyes that they kindly drained into the river back in the day. HA! Okay...so that's a bit of an exaggeration...

...the fish only have two legs.

If you have never been here, then it is possible that you have seen the area in THIS film. Which happens to be about the very topic brushed over above. Just say'n.

Anyway....they turned these fabulous mill buildings into all kinds of things after the mills dried up and more modern business and modern transportation changed the ebb and flow of the local economy. Due to their amazing charm and wicked crazy cool vintage look, they were a natural fit for antique shops, so, you can find all kinds of fabulous antique shops in the local mills.

So...like I was saying before giving you that brief history lesson, Mom and I stopped at one of those on that fine Saturday. They had a really cool $1 rack and on said rack I found a treasure!

Forks! Yup! I was pretty excited because I've been dying to make fork easels to display my cards and scrapbook pages and there on the shelf lay a wonderful little bundle of fork'n goodness!

So, naturally... I bought them! I didn't look too closely, as they were just cool vintage looking forks and I liked the handles on them.

Well...here's the thing. I DID look closely once I got them home.

This one says 'Staybrite' on the back, which made me giggle a little because it really was the shiniest one in the bunch! It is a smaller stainless steel fork, so it will work well for cards and stuff.

Then there was this one - another simple stainless fork. Easy to manipulate into the easel shape I am looking for.

Then there is this one. Ooooooooo! Fancy Schmancy! This one is silver plated! That's kind of fun, but fine since it still doesn't have anything making it particularly valuable. It will shine up quite nicely, though!

And then...my friends...came the FINAL FOUR FORKING FORKS!

Just in case you are having trouble reading that...YES! It does say "Reed and Barton." Reed. And. Freaking. Barton. Silver. REAL. FREAKING. SILVER.

Ummm...okay. I wasn't really expecting that! I know...the weight should have gave me notice, but I wasn't really worried about it, so I just didn't notice until I saw the label! HOW on EARTH can I justify bending and twisting GENUINE SILVER Reed and Barton silverware into easels?

I'm kinda sad. I don't know what to do, really. They were super cheap, but I REALLY wanted a nice set of easels and these are the largest forks in the bunch, so those were the ones I was really planning on using the most! But I feel bad bending up REAL silver for that. Is that dumb? Do these actually HAVE value? Is it okay to have REALLY PRETTY SHINY SILVER fork easels?

I'm torn. What do you think?

Oh...and if you happen to know of a great fork easel tutorial somewhere please let me know. I saw tons of them all over the place until I actually had forks to use. Then I couldn't find them anywhere! HA!

23 comments:

Hi Jingle (this is Rita, Cemetery Artist). I found a link to the fork with some info:http://search.replacements.com/texis/search?query=Reed and BartonIt's worth more than a buck, but not so pricy that you couldn't enjoy it for your easel. You can sell it to this company if you want to, then you'd have more money for more forks, lolI love your blog...love your writing style...I think I have a girl crush, lol.

Check eBay and if they aren't worth much, easel to your heart's content! Very cute idea. I'm going to finish my Daddy wordbook soon and when I do, I'm going to post pictures on my blog and you better come support me in my scrapbooking. ;)

I think the easels are made simply by curling the 2 outsides tines forward and curling the 2 inside tine backwards (slightly separated apart). I just don't know what is used to curl the tines...good luck!

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